Many investment professionals believe the current US and World economies are still mired in stagnation with low or zero growth. The Central Banks of the US, the European Union and Asia continue to be concerned and confused as to economic direction and solutions for the this lack of growth. Investors are caught in the middle and are left with difficult decisions to find places to invest that meet their needs for safety and returns above the current bank savings rates of 1%, or less.
Q: How can an investor get relative safety with a hedge against inflation (when it does re-occur) and still get growth?
A: One option with historically significant returns are tangible assets. Although tangible asset classes include precious metals, there are a number of different classes.
Q: What are Tangible Asset Classes?
A: Definition: A tangible asset is an asset that has a physical form. Tangible assets include both fixed assets, such as machinery, buildings and land, and current assets, such as inventory. Nonphysical assets, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, goodwill and brand recognition, are all examples of intangible assets.
Surprisingly, tangible assets or “hard assets” known as collectables are large world markets that trade in the billions of dollars. Bloomberg estimates the following collectable market sizes for 2016
Collectible and Related Market Descriptions’ by Size
Jewelry Market - $150 Billion
Global Art Market - $75 Billion
Diamonds Market - $72 Billion
Paintings Market - $64 Billion
Classic Car Market - $50 Billion
Watch Market - $40 Billion
Antiques Market - $16 Billion
Rare Coins & Medals - $7 Billion
Rare Clock Market - $5 Billion
Lunch Box Market - $100 Million
Wine Market - $100 Million